Ayn Rand and Objectivism

Ayn Rand is both an american philosopher and a writer. Rand has been a very influential philosopher in the United States, but almost unknown ouf of US. She offers both a metaphysical rationalism and moral rationalism. She founded the objectivist philosophy. Briefly, we presented some of her key ideas.

Rand’s Metaphysical Realism

“The reality is what does not disappear when you stop believing in it”

The metaphysical realism asserts that reality exists independently of observation. Rand called this principle, the rule of life. The first axiom states that there is something at least and refutes this principle needs to be used as premise the concept of existence, which confirms the principle and gives the status of axiom.

The existence is not dependent on consciousness, while awareness needs to exist. Therefore the mind does not create reality, but mind is only a means to discover the reality.

Rand’s moral rationalism

“My philosophy, in essence, is the concept of man as a heroic being, which states happiness as the moral purpose of his life, which makes productive achievement as his the noblest activity, and the reason his only absolute”

“The three cardinal values ​​of objectivist ethics are the reason, intentionality and self-esteem. All of our beliefs, our goals, our values, our desires and actions must be based on, derived from selected and validated by a rational process as accurate and careful we can be, in strict application of the laws of logic. We must never desired effects without causes, and that one should never give rise to a cause without assuming full responsibility for its effects, we must never act like a zombie, that is to say without knowing our own goals and motives. [Philosophy objecticiste] means the rejection of any form of mysticism, that is to say, any claim to a supernatural source of knowledge, not sensory, not rational and not definable. It means a commitment to use reason, not sporadically or by applying it only in certain circumstances or in emergencies, but as a way of life permanently. ”

Rand of The virtue of selfishness

“No, you do not have to live if you do not want, but if you choose to live, you must live in human beings – through effort and trial of your mind. No, you are not required to live in human beings is an act of moral choice. But you can not live otherwise – and the alternative is that life worse than death that you see now you and around you, this unsuitable existence, that you down below the animal, a situation that takes you from year to year through a painful death, to a senseless and indiscriminate destruction. No, you do not have to think: ‘s is an act of moral choice. But it was not someone think to keep you alive. If you choose to escape the thought, you hide from the existence in transmitting the load to be a moral being, in hoping that he will sacrifice his well being so you can survive in your vice. ”

Rejection of altruistic ethics

Objectivism states that the fundamental right of human beings is the right to live, which is the right to act in order to prolong his own life – not the right to be protected, or obtain assistance for survival on the part of other human beings against their will (which would imply a denial of that right to the other). A love “altruistic” and “disinterested” is a contradiction in terms: it means that we are indifferent to what is valued

“I swear by my life and my love of it, I will never live to love another man, nor ask another man to live for mine”

The revolt of atlas

“We are on strike against self-immolation. We are on strike against the principle of undeserved rewards and obligations without consideration. We are on strike against the doctrine that condemns the pursuit of personal happiness. We are on strike against the dogma that all life is tainted by guilt”

“For centuries, the battle of morality was conducted between those who claim that your life belongs to God and those who claim that it belongs to your neighbors – between those who preached that the product is self-sacrifice for the good of ghosts in heaven and those who preached that the product is self-sacrifice for the sake of incompetents on earth. And no one came to say that your life belongs to you and the product is to live it. ”

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